ἀνθρώποισι πᾶσι μέτεστι γινώσκειν ἑωυτοὺς καὶ σωφρονεῖν.
In this post we present excerpts from the memorable work of Athanasios Stageiritis* “Ogygia or Archaeology” (Ωγυγία ή Αρχαιολογία) which refer to praying and in general to the stance of Greeks towards the Divine. Continue reading “Prayer in Ancient Greece”
Byzantine law did not know national and racial differences and was emphatically universalistic with regard to ethnicity. Continue reading “Eastern Roman (‘Byzantine’) perception of ‘Islam’”
Even though the fall of Constantinople to the Fourth Crusade in April 1204 marked a turning point in the history of Southeastern Europe and the entire Eastern Mediterranean world, changing—often radically—the political, cultural, religious, economic and social circumstances in this vast region, a wave of changes beginning exactly one century before this significant event had already transformed the political system in Southeastern Europe, that is, in the Byzantine Empire᾽s European hinterland. Continue reading “Creation of a new political elite in the Eastern Roman (‘Byzantine’) World through a process of political marriages – A high-point of ‘Byzantine’ diplomacy”
In this article we look at the Christian Roman State (‘Byzantine’ Empire) in terms of Culture, Religion and Diplomacy, just before the first Arab-Roman war. Continue reading “Culture, Religion and Diplomacy in the 7th century AD Roman Empire”
“Religion”* as an ideological system
When we say that “Orthodoxy is not a religion* in the usual sense of the word”, we are clearly implying that the term “religion” is not used in the Bible.
When we speak of “religion”, we mean an organized, world-theory system. In other words, we associate it with a group of people who have a specific IDEOLOGY, which they promote. And it is precisely this element that we reject in Orthodoxy. Because Orthodoxy IS NOT an ideological system. It IS NOT a philosophy, OR a theoretical fabrication. Orthodoxy is a PRACTICAL psychotherapeutic method.
Furthermore, Orthodoxy IS NOT a man-made fabrication, or an organization by people. It is a God-human institution, and the Body of Christ. Continue reading “The use of the word “religion””
The greatest problem of Western Christianity – and of many Orthodox also – is that they have ‘religionized’ Christianity and have turned the Church into a religion. In this way, they cultivated fundamentalisms, hatreds, divisions, a magical perception and relationship with God, also a competitive disposition of one towards another, a self-centered view of life, a utilitarian and self-benefiting perception of society, an imaginary interpretation of everything, the sentimental approach to living and generally the opinion that the others comprise –and are- a threat to our existence.
Thus, in these circumstances, the brightly-lit Christmas trees, the sentimental melodies, the moral-building analyses, all criminally conceal existential nakedness and make man a tragic being. Continue reading “The Illness of religion”
Novo Scriptorium 